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Texas storage takes precautions with NM nuke waste

CARLSBAD - Dozens of containers of radioactive waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory are being packed as a precaution into concrete casks at a temporary storage facility in West Texas.

The waste was shipped to Andrews, Texas, due to the closure of the federal government's underground nuclear waste repository in southeastern New Mexico. The repository has been closed since February because of a radiation release.

Investigators have focused on a container from Los Alamos as the possible cause of the release.

Workers at the Texas facility are taking thermal readings of the waste containers before loading them into the concrete casks. The casks are then filled with gravel.

Equipment inside the casks monitors the internal temperature on a daily basis. Cameras are also monitoring the area where the waste is being stored.